6th Day of Lent

In our services yesterday, we took some time to reflect together upon the mighty and unrelenting geologic forces that contribute to the formation of this stunning lake, Lake Moraine, in the Canadian Rockies.



Often it is the wild, uncertain, and often cataclysmic seasons in our lives that lead to the creation of new and beautiful, spacious places. However, the process of creation can be ugly, grueling and difficult to withstand.

Are there places in your life that are undergoing this kind of upheaval and grinding change?

If so, may the Lord bless you, keep you, and sustain you as you wait for new life and beauty to emerge.

It is in these times of upheaval that we can draw strength and encouragement from Jesus and the way that he surrendered through times of suffering and pain because he saw ahead to the beauty that would be revealed in the creation of his kingdom – a kingdom made up of His dearly loved children, redeemed by his suffering and death. The following passage, from the book of Isaiah, provides a window into the process of suffering turning to glory, beauty coming from ashes, and gladness from mourning as lived out in the life of Jesus.


Isaiah 53:1-12 (New International Version)
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities 
and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, [because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


Please add an entry to this blog to share any thoughts or reflections about today’s Lenten devotion.